Graham Smith (Canadian swimmer)

For the Scottish swimmer, born 1976, see Graeme Smith (swimmer). For the Bermuda swimmer, born 1982, see Graham Smith (Bermudian swimmer).

Donald Graham Smith (born May 9, 1958) is a Canadian former competition swimmer who swam for the University of California Berkeley, and won a silver medal in the men's 4x100-metre medley relay at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. He did so alongside teammates Stephen Pickell, Clay Evans and Gary MacDonald. His brother George and sister Becky also competed in swimming.

Graham Smith

Personal information
Full name	Donald Graham Smith
National team	Canada
Born	(1958-05-09) May 9, 1958 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Breaststroke, medley
Club	Calgary Dinos, Calgary (CAN)
College team	University of California, Berkeley
Coach	Nort Thornton
Medal record Men's swimming Representing Canada Olympic Games 1976 Montreal 4x100 m medley World Championships (LC) 1978 Berlin 200 m medley 1978 Berlin 100 m breaststroke Pan American Games 1979 San Juan 200 m medley 1979 San Juan 4x100 m medley 1979 San Juan 100 m breaststroke Commonwealth Games 1978 Edmonton 100 m breaststroke 1978 Edmonton 200 m breaststroke 1978 Edmonton 200 m medley 1978 Edmonton 400 m medley 1978 Edmonton 4x100 m medley 1978 Edmonton 4x100 m freestyle Summer Universiade 1977 Sofia 100 m breaststroke 1977 Sofia 200 m breaststroke

Smith attended the University of California Berkeley where he swam under Hall of Fame Coach Nort Thornton. During his time at Berkeley, he won an NCAA national swimming championship.

At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, he became the first competitor to win six gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games; he won the 100- and 200-metre breaststroke, 200- and 400-metre individual medleys, and was part of the winning 4x100-metre freestyle and 4x100-metre medley relay teams. Smith twice broke the world record in the men's 200-metre individual medley (long course).

Taking off a year from college to train for the 1980 Summer Olympics, he lost his chance to participate when the games were boycotted by Canada. Though he had been considered Canada's greatest swimmer, in 1982 he formally left competitive swimming, and served as a coach for several years before earning an MBA from St. Mary’s College of California. In 2013 he owned a Canadian consulting firm in British Columbia.

Smith was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1978.

See also

• List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• List of University of California, Berkeley alumni
• World record progression 200 metres individual medley

External links

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Graham Smith". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13.